Michael f



women I M. F. DAVIS.

OAR.

No.282.856. PatentedAug.'7, 1883.

7 sfqaew.

Aflorney N. PETERS Photo-ufiwx v m Washington. D. c.

STAT- s FFIG.

OAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 282,856, dated August7, 1883.

Application filed February 1, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, IVIIOHAELF. DAVIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Portland, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oars; and I dohereby declare the following to be 'a'full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is an elevation of the oar. Fig. 2 is a section of the oar online 00 w of Fig. 1; Fig.

i 2, same on line 3 y of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an elevation of thehandle-cover. Fig. 4 is a section of Fig. 3 on line y y. Fig. 5 is adetail of the handle, showing the thumb-hole.

This invention relates to such improvements in oars used in racing-boatsas shall afford a very light device and an excellent blade, and alsoprevent, in a very great degree, the

- trouble which has heretofore risen from the 5 slipping of the hand onthe oar and from straining the thumb-joint.

It has heretofore been considered necessary that the oar should preservethroughout a round or nearly round form in cross-section, such formbeing generally regarded as essen tially the best for use and as themost desirable for easy manufacture but the objections to this form arethat in this way very much unnecessary wood or stock is retained, andconsequently needless bulk. It has also been found that when the handlepart of the oar becomes dampened or wet from any causeas by rain,splashing of water, or even by the moisture of handthe oarsman could notsecure the firm unslipping grasp, which is an absolute necessity whenusing the oar for racing purposes, and also that the slipping of thehand on the ear caused blisters; also, that with the spoon-blades now inuse the lower edge is always liable to tick or splash over the surfaceof the water as the oarsman recovered his stroke. g

By my invention I have obviated these difficulties by grooving out theoar lengthwise of the handle and loom part of it, and thus removing allneutral or useless stock, and by providing a cover for the handle partconsisting of an annulus or cap of canvas and rubber combined, andfinally by the peculiarshape of the lower edge of the spoon or blade,all as will now be more fullyset forth and explained.

In the drawings, A denotes an oar made according to this invention.Lengthwise in its loom and body, from handle I) to blade I), are made,011 opposite sides, the grooves c c. It is designed that by thesegrooves about one eighth part of the wood in one of these oars (made ashas been heretofore the custom) shall be taken out. It will be noted oncareful consideration, what I have fully developed by actualtest-namely, that in this lessening of the bulk of the oar Ihave inavery slight, if any, degree taken away from or diminished the strengthof the oar. and this happens because the wood removed performed nooffice, either in resisting strain or wear when the oar was in use. Ihave by this operation only taken out the portion of wood which wassuperfluous or neutral. The part left is of the proper proportions toresist all the varied strains .brought upon it, as well as all the wear.The gain in leaving a light oar as well as a strong one is toov evidentto any one skilled in boating matters to need any discussion at thistime.

In the handle end b of the oar is made, I about three and a half inchesfromthe end, a thumbslot, a. This is designed to receive the oarsman sthumb, and by means of it the peculiar strain of the thumb-j oint in theoldstyle handle is obviated. This construction enables the oarsman topull with a straight arm and to feather with both hands, whereas by anyconstruction heretofore known to me the oarsman could only keep acontinuous grip with one hand while the other slid around the handle.

The handle I) is covered with cap or tube D, made of rubber, d, withlongitudinal strips of canvas, (1, inside, properly embedded in therubber, in alternation of the different material, preferably as seen inFig. 4. By this construction the canvas is placed inside of the cap D,and thus comes against the wood of the handle. The canvas will aid veryessentially in preventing the handle from turning or slipping in thecap. As a matter of fact, if the cap were made of rubber alone, it wouldsoon get stretched or smooth inside, and so turn or move on the handle.The exterior of this cap or tube may be roughened by parallelcorrugations extending from end to end. This cap will have sufficientelasticity to be easily forced oyer and upon the handle, where it may besecured by cement, or otherwise. In like manner the annulus d on theloom of the oar gives the handle-cover for the other hand of. theoarsman. This is made in like manner as cap D, and applied in the sameway; but'I do advantageously, or simply pieces of rubber may be fastenedon the handle. My aim in this feature'of the present invention is toprovide such an appliance as will obviate the difficulties I havegenerally stated in the beginning of this specification.

\Vhile I have illustrated this improvement in oars as applied to thoseoars used in racingboats, it is evident that it can be applied to anysort or description of oars.

The blade I) of the oar is in many'particulars like that shown in myPatent No. 231,016; but instead of having a continuous curve from shankto end on the lower edge of the blade, the said edge is so cut away asto have an inwardly-curvingline, and thus a wider and shorter blade issecured; but there is no more stock or surface in the blade than in myother car, the shape, not the superficial area, being changed but thispeculiar shape of the blade renders it necessary to providebinding-straps e 0, one at the end and the other near the shank. Theobject of this curvilinear under side of the blade is to enable theoarsman to clear the water more readily as he recovers at the end of thestroke. The old-style blade being spoon-shaped, the lower swell is, inthe recover of the stroke, apt to tick or strike on the top of thewater, unless special attention is paid to obviating this but by thecurvilinear line or shape now shown the lower edge of the spoon-bladecomes practically parallel with the surface of the water, and so willjust go clear of it as the blade is thrown forward on the recover.

Having thus described my invention, what I consider new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. An oar having the two opposite sides of its body between handle'andblade grooved out, substantially as described.

2. A spoon-blade oar having its under side cut away so as to have aninwardly-curving line, substantially as described.

' 3. A cap or handle-cover for an oar, made of rubber, and having insidelongitudinal strips of canvas alternating with the rubber, substantiallyas described. a

4. In combination with an 'oar-handle, a rubber cover corrugated fromend to end on its exterior surface, substantially as described.

5. The combination of oar A with handle cap D, closed at its end,substantially as described.

6. An oar having a spoon-blade, b, with an iii-turned curvilinearloweredge, and bound by straps e e, substantially as described.

7. A11 oar having a cross-slot, a, in its handle to afford room for theoarsmans thumb, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.7

MICHAEL F. DAVIS.

\Vitnesses:

G. WV. BALLOOH, GEORGE CORNELL.

